MORNING JOURNAL/JIM BOBELAdvisor to Obama Valerie Jarrett, right, speaks to the staffers at Obama/Biden headquarters in Lorain. From left to right are former Ohio First Lady Francis Strickland, Lorain at Large Councilmen Tony Richardson, Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer. Jarrett and Strickland where touring the state yesterday.

LORAIN -- Persistence and determination is standing on the shoulders of Ohio, said Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama. "Everybody knows if the president wins Ohio, the chances of being re-elected are very, very strong. Everyone is counting on you."

Jarrett spoke last night at the Obama for American headquarters, 668 Broadway, Lorain, as part of the Democratic National Committee "Gotta Vote" Bus Tour.

"There are five days to go until the election and the stakes couldn't be higher," Ritenauer said. "I remember in 2000 when 537 votes in Florida changed the course of history (in the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush.) We're not going to let that happen in Ohio. On every issue it's a choice between two fundamentally different visions for our future and in Lorain, we know just how strong of a choice that is."

Jarrett said the president's commitment and history as a campaign volunteer is an indicator of his honesty. She hopes voters see the president for who he is as a person, not just as a politician.

"Being president has not changed Obama, it has revealed who is his," she said. "And I think the same thing happened over the course of this campaign with Gov. Romney. What (Romney) has been doing with these commercials has destroyed the president's record. This is a sign of his integrity and character. I think the president has always had those basic moral values he was raised with."

Audience members applauded Jarrett for saying the president is paying attention to the economy and has a commitment to bring jobs back to the country and to Ohio.

"The economy is front and center here in Lorain and throughout our country," she said. "The last six months of the Bush administration we lost 4 million jobs, 800,000 the month the president took office. Since then, we've had 41 straight months of private sector job growth for over 5 million jobs. In Ohio, unemployment has come down below the national average because of the president's investment in the automobile industry."

Obama volunteer, Susan Neely, said Jarrett's speech spoke to her directly because of Obama's policies about education. The grant money has allowed her to go back to college and learn more about the economy.

"It was good to hear from someone who is so close to Obama's administration, to speak in Lorain," she said. "Through some of president's Obama plans, I've been able to go back to college. I've been able to take economics and everything that President Obama has said is in all the economics books. You have to build from the middle out and trickle down does not work."

In closing, Jarrett addressed the importance of the Ohio Vote for the Democratic Party and urged voters to help President Obama bring power back to the middle class.

"We are at a critical direction for the middle class," she said. "We all believe our country is so strong and optimistic and we're counting on you to get out there and help us tell the truth."

The "Gotta Vote" Bus Tour started in Sioux City, Iowa, on Sept. 29 and has made dozens stops across the country. Today they will be heading to Athens and then Cincinnati. For more information on the tour, visit www.gottavote.com.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will attend a victory rally on Nov. 4 at the Cleveland I-X Center, 6200 Riverside Drive, as part of the Romney-Ryan Real Recovery Road Rally. He will be joined by country singer Rodney Atkins. Doors will open at 12:15 p.m. and will begin at 2:45 p.m. Tickets are available at the Holiday Inn at 1100 Crocker Road, Westlake.